WebUser – 04 April 2018

Weekend Project

Gettogripswithsomeserioustechtinkeringto

boostyourcomputerandotherdevices

58 4-17April 2018

wanttowipeit andstartafresh.It may

seemconvenienttoswitchonanew

(toyou)PCandbootstraightinto

Windows,soyoucangetonwith

customisingthingstoyourtasteandstart

usingit withtheminimumoffuss,buta

second-handPCcouldcontainallkinds

ofhiddennasties,suchaskeyloggers.

If thePCcomeswithacopyofthe

Howt

o... Howtosafely set up

asecond-hand device

Buyingasecond-handlaptop,tabletorphone?WayneWilliams

showsyouhowtomakesureit’sfreeofunwantedbaggage

If thepersonyouboughtthe
computerfromhasprepared
it properly,whenyouswitch
it onyoushouldbefacedwitheither
ablank,formattedharddriveorthe
WindowsOut-Of-BoxExperience
(OOBE),readytoguideyouthroughthe
Windowssetupprocedure.If,however,
thePCbootsstraighttoWindows,you’ll

I

fyou’renot bothered aboutowning theverylatest

cutting-edge tech,orifmoney’s tightand youenjoy

thethrill of abargain,snapping up asecond-hand PC

or smartphonecan save youasmallfortune. Buying a

used device is notwithout risk,however. If theseller

hasn’ttakensteps to properlywipe it,you could endup

with theirpersonal data or,worse still,someformof

malwarewhich could endupstealingyourpersonal data.

In this issue’s WeekendProject,we detailthe stepsyou

need to take to makesurethatyournew purchaseisn’t

encumbered with anyunwantedleftovers,soit’s

completely safe to use.

operatingsystemonaDVD,youcanuse

thistoperformacleaninstall.However,

makesureyou’vebeensuppliedwithan

officialinstallationdiscbecauseacopy

burnedtoaCDorDVDwiththekey

scrawledonit couldbeequallydodgy.

If youhaveyourownWindows

installationdisc,youcanusethator–

betterstill–downloadthelatestinstaller

MTWTFSS

PREPARE ASECOND-HANDPC